It was a mixed day for Whitecaps FC Residency teams at South Surrey Athletic Park on Sunday against visiting Portland Timbers in United States Soccer Development Academy action.
Playing their first matches of the season at home, the U-18s were defeated 6-3 in an entertaining encounter before striker Terran Campbell scored two goals to clinch a 2-0 victory for the U-16s.
The Residency teams will break over the holiday period before resuming their seasons away to Sacramento-based outfit San Juan SC.
U-18
Whitecaps FC (5W-5L-1D) got off to a flying start with two goals in the opening 20 minutes from Carlos Marquez and Yassin Essa.
But Portland managed to pull a goal back just before halftime to reduce the margin to 2-1.
The Timbers dominated proceedings from that point on, beginning with a superbly taken free kick in the 51st minute that changed the course of the match.
Portland added more tallies in the 55th, 63rd and 86th minutes before Whitecaps FC striker Brody Huitema found the back of the net two minutes from time.
The visitors weren’t done and they rounded out the scoring a minute later.
While disappointed with the final score, coach Gordon Forrest said the match provided another learning experience for his team, adding the players need to find that killer instinct when ahead in games.
“We started off well,” he said. “We went 2-0 up, and then we lost a goal just before the halftime break - which was a little bit of a blow as that let them back in the game.
“Obviously the dynamics changed a little bit in the second half, we sort of lost our way a little bit after being in control of the game.
“But there were pleasing spells of possession from us and the goals we scored were very good.
“Now we need to work on killing the game off when we’re in front and developing a ruthless streak.”
Whitecaps FC U-18 lineup:
Nolan Wirth; Quinton Duncan (Matthew van der Eyden 85’), Jackson Farmer, Alex Comsia, Sam Adekugbe; Mitch Piraux, Carlos Marquez (Kianz Froese 58'), Sebastian Cabrera (Liam Elbourne 80'); Yassin Essa, Spencer DeBoice, Brody Huitema.
U-16
Craig Dalrymple’s troops (6W-4L-1D) continued their rich vein of form of late with a 2-0 triumph over their MLS rivals.
Campbell opened the scoring around the 20-minute mark before adding the insurance marker minutes after the halftime break.
Dalrymple was pleased with the overall performance, particularly the way his team controlled the match.
“It was a good battling performance, we controlled the game again as we have in recent weeks and got some rewards in the first half,” he said.
“The game got a little scrappy in the middle phase so at halftime we regrouped the players and reminded them of some of the things we wanted to do in possession. They came out and Terran scored a second goal early in the second half. It was a good strike from distance and we generally managed the game from that point on so it was a good performance.”
Dalrymple said his players can now go into the Christmas break in high spirits.
“They’ve progressively got better over the last five or six games and they’ve started to understand that they do have some good qualities,” he said. “So for them it was a good confidence boost.”
Whitecaps FC U-16 lineup:
Marco Carducci; Matteo Bordignon; Matthew Baldisimo, Evangelos Boucas, Jordan Haynes; Jeevin Kang, Francesco Saporito, Matthew Chow (Thomas Gardner 70’), Dario Zanatta (Olamide Ajibike 75’)’ Terran Campbell (AJ Lopez 65’), Aymar Sigue (Evan Gray 68).
